“You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills; they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. From Your lofty abode You water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your work. You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.” Psalm 104:10-15
Devotional Thought For The Day
We all too often forget the blessings of God in creation. It is much easier and makes more sense for us to focus on the “thorns and thistles,” all of the difficult aspects of “eating our bread by the sweat of our brow.” And nature is not always friendly or even hospitable; in the summer the heat of the sun can scorch just about everything, and in the winter the cold can kill just about anything. One of our favorite pastimes is talking about [complaining about] the weather. When it rains we worry about hail or floods or destructive winds; when it quits raining we worry about drought, famine, and wildfires. It seems that there is danger everywhere.
In these verses God reminds us that He is the source and cause of all that we [and all creatures] need to survive and even live with gusto. The water that is needed comes from God, and in response to His goodness the birds “sing among the branches.” It is God who waters the mountains and makes the earth fruitful, and the very earth itself is described as being “satisfied.” But the greatest blessings of God’s goodness and love are reserved for human beings – the prospering of our livestock, of our crops, so that we have an abundant stock of food, bread to strengthen our hearts, oil to care for the health of our skin, and “wine to gladden the heart of man.” All these things God makes and continues to nurture, causing them to flourish in abundance, and all for the good of mankind. God deeply desires our health and welfare and wants our hearts to be “gladdened” in His provision of all things.
Sadly, we are often too busy laboring and sweating over our ambitious toil and industriousness, looking more at how our strategic accounts are piling up, fearful that perhaps we will not be able to do or have the exotic and expensive things that we want so badly. So much so, that often we don’t even have the time or the right mental state to enjoy our eating and drinking – we force ourselves to take the time to eat with only the thought of getting back to some labor or chore. Yet as Jesus reminds us, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” [Matt. 6:26] In fact, some Christians consider austerity and temperance [abstaining completely from the gifts of God that gladden the heart of man] to be the height of piety and reverence for God – as if He didn’t really want our lives to be filled with joy and satisfaction. Hopefully we can see, from these very verses, that this is a corruption and perversion of Who God really is.
Yes, there are also warnings for us to be serious about some things in life, and for us to be sober-minded [many people get carried away with the pleasures of this life and do nothing important or loving], but we are to do so within the framework of knowing God’s love and His good and gracious will for our happiness and joy. God has resolved the issues of our sin and guilt in His gift of redemption, and is renewing our hearts and minds through His love. He has promised that the sufferings of this present time will come to an end, that He will remove them all, including our tears and sorrows [Rev. 21:1-5]. Yes, we must “through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God” [Acts 14:22], but this does not negate God’s will that the preponderance of our time here in this world include enjoying His wonderful gifts.
So make sure that you are taking in “food from the earth” and “wine to gladden” your heart and “oil to make [your] face shine” and “bread to strengthen [your] heart.” And let us be sure that we too are singing our joy in praise and thankfulness to God.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, thanks and praise be to You for all the things that we need to live a hearty, hale, healthy, and happy life, and for giving us permission and instruction to live life heartily and joyfully. Keep us from setting our eyes on wind and wave, on the storms of life, but rather help us to focus on Your love, Your redemption and salvation, and Your full and complete goodness toward us. Sanctify all proper and enjoyable things to us by faith and prayers of thanksgiving, that in all things we live to the glory of Your Name. Amen.